No. 2 Mercyhurst Snaps No. 9 Pfeiffer's Winning Streak

ERIE, Pa.- No. 2 Mercyhurst beat No. 9 Pfeiffer, 12-5, Saturday afternoon. Brady Heseltine scored five goals and the Laker defense allowed just two goals in the final three quarters at Tullio Field.

Pfeiffer tied the score at 4 with 3:23 left in the first half. Mercyhurst quickly regained control, as Heseltine finished a Brandon Thomson assist with 1:54 remaining. After a Falcon turnover, the Lakers called timeout with 39 seconds left. Ian Brooks hit the post on a bouncing shot, but Heseltine was there to collect the ground ball and score with 0.2 seconds showing on the clock.

Pfeiffer took a penalty early in the second half, setting up an extra-man chance for the Lakers. Two shots went missing, but Jake McAndrew found Connor Enright for a man-up goal with 13:44 to play in the third. The visitors scored later in the frame, but Deven Alves found McAndrew for a goal with 24 seconds to go, making it 8-5. Michael Grace made a save and outletted ahead. The ball bounced through several players and wound up in the stick of Heseltine, who sprinted in and scored with three seconds remaining, putting Mercyhurst up, 9-5.

In the fourth period, Cory Becker and Chad Levick each scored man-up goals around a Heseltine score as the Lakers snuffed out any Falcon hopes.

The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair, as Brooks scored from Thomson just 2:59 into the action. Pfeiffer answered 16 seconds later and then went ahead 2-1 on a ball that took a Falcon bounce and rolled into the net with 11:21 to go in the period. John Plaskey assisted on a Deven Alves goal a few minutes later, tying the contest.

After a Grace save, Plaskey scored on his own, putting the hosts up, 3-2, with 6:29 remaining. Later in the frame, the Falcons evened the score again, making it 3-all heading into the second quarter.

Heseltine finished with five goals and an assist. McAndrew posted a goal and two assists, while Thomson had three helpers. Alves and Plaskey had a goal and an assist each. Grace tallied 11 saves in goal. The Lakers had a 32-26 advantage in shots and went 3-8 on man-up opportunities.

Mercyhurst is 2-0 this season. It hosts #6 Seton Hill on Saturday, March 8, in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) opener at Tullio Field.

Coach Chris Ryan has guided his squad to 36 consecutive regular season wins and 21 straight home regular season victories.

* * * *

ERIE, PA - No. 9 Pfeiffer (3-1) saw its three game winning-streak snapped at the hands of No. 2 Mercyhurst (2-0) by a final score of 12-5 on a chilly Saturday afternoon in the northeast. The Falcons were held to just two goals after the first period as last year's national runner-up earned the victory.

Mercyhurst held a slight 32-26 advantage in shots for the contest as well as a 29-23 edge in ground balls. Thanks to a big effort from Khalid Stukes, the Falcons won 14 of 20 faceoffs in the game and the sophomore won all but two draws in the final three periods of play.

Brady Heseltine had a dominant performance for the Lakers, finishing the game with five goals and an assist. Three of Heseltine's five scores came in a decisive second quarter where the Lakers outscored Pfeiffer, 3-1.

Brandon Thomson dished out three assists for the Lakers and Mitch McAvoy had six ground balls.

Mercyhurst struck first, just less than three minutes into the contest as Ian Brooks scored. Tucker Hammock and James Shepherd responded to give Pfeiffer a 2-1 lead at the 11:21 mark, their final lead of the contest. Deven Alves tied the game and John Plaskey put the hosts back ahead before Allen made the score 3-3.

Pfeiffer was outscored 9-2 the rest of the way, and were held the final 21:58 without a score. Heseltine added two goals and an assist in the second half as the Lakers ran away with the win.